Doordarshan is the National service of India and is also one of the largest broadcasting organizations in the world. A network of three National channels, two special interest channels, ten regional language channels, four state networks and an international channels ...Through a network of 868 terrestrial transmitters of varying powers it makes available TV signals for over 87% of the population.300 million viewers in their homes watch Doordarshan programmes. TV sets established under various schemes in community centres in villages for a total number of 450 million viewers (India, 1998). The countrywide classroom on the National Network is aimed to reach quality education of students in small villages.

Television in India has been in existence for decades now. India did not begin till Sept 15, 1959 with a small studio. The service was called `Doordarshan`. For the first 17 years, it spread haltingly and transmission was mainly in black & white. Doordarshan was established as a part of All India Radio. Until 1976, it consisted of one national network and seven regional networks. In 1992 there were sixty-three high-power television transmitters, 369 medium-power transmitters, seventy-six low-power transmitters, and twenty-three transposers. Regular satellite transmissions began in 1982.

Television has come to the forefront only in the past 21 years and more so in the past 13. There were initially two ignition points: the first in the eighties when color TV was introduced by state-owned broadcaster Doordarshan (DD) timed with the 1982 Asian Games which India hosted. It then proceeded to install transmitters nationwide rapidly for terrestrial broadcasting. In this period no private enterprise was allowed to set up TV stations or to transmit TV signals. The second spark came in the early nineties with the broadcast of satellite TV by foreign programmers like CNN followed by Star TV and a little later by domestic channels such as Zee TV and Sun TV into Indian homes. Prior to this, Indian viewers had to make do with DD`s chosen fare, which was dull, non-commercial in nature, directed towards only education and socio-economic development. Entertainment programs were few.

The eighties was the era of Doordarshan with soaps like Hum Log (1984), Buniyaad (1986-87) and mythological dramas like Ramayan (1987-88) and Mahabharat (1988-89) glued millions to DoorDarshan. Other popular programs included Hindi film songs based programs like Chitrahaar and Rangoli and crime thrillers like Karamchand (starring Pankaj Kapoor), Byomkesh Bakshi and Janki Jasoos. Recent programs include the serial drama Lal Kothi Alvida (2006), based on the novel by Sharat Kumar.

Television service in India is available throughout the country. Broadcasting is a central government monopoly under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, but the only network system, Doordarshan, also known as TV1, accepts advertisements for some programs. Doordarshan is one of the largest broadcasting organisations in the world in terms of the infrastructure of studios and transmitters. Recently it has also started Digital Terrestrial Transmitters.

Indian television channel Doordarshan offers national, regional, and local service for Indian television viewers. The number of televisions in India sets increased from around 500,000 in 1976 to 9 million in early 1987 and to around 47 million in 1994; increases are expected to continue at around 6 million sets per year.

On DD-1 National programmes, Regional programmes and Local Programmes are carried on time-sharing basis. Metro Entertainment channel carries Network programmes from Delhi and also Single-Metro Programmes from the four metro cities. The Regional Languages Satellite channels have two components - The Regional service for the particular state relayed by all terrestrial transmitters in the state and additional programmes in the Regional Language in prime time and non-prime time available only through cable operators. Sports Channel is exclusively devoted to the important sporting events of national and International importance. DD-News channel, launched on 3rd November, 2003, which replaced the DD-Metro Entertainment channel, provides 24-Hour news service. The Regional Languages Satellite channels have two components - The Regional service for the particular state relayed by all terrestrial transmitters in the state and additional programmes in the Regional Language in prime time and non-prime time available only through cable operators. Sports Channel is exclusively devoted to the broadcasting of sporting events of national and international importance. This is the only Sports Channel which telecasts rural sports like Kho-Kho, Kabbadi etc.something which private broadcasters will not attempt to telecast as it will not attract any revenues.

Of all the Doordarshan centres, Mumbai has the most acute language problem, having to cater to a cosmopoliton and varied audience in Hindi, English,Urdu, Marathi and Gujrati. The ownership pattern of the sets does not quite conform to the linguistic break up of the population covered by the transmissions. The rural programmes were also laid by the Poona Centre when it started functioning from February 2, 1973. Various other centers were opened in various states of India like Calcutta, Srinagar, Amritsar, Tamil Nadu etc.

The National Programmes:
National unity and understanding between people of different states is an unexceptional idea, but whether a common programme broadcats simultaneously from all the TV centres can help in achieving this objective is quite another thing as Mr Sathe, Minister for I and B founded when he decided to introduce the 90 minute National programme from August 15, 1982. originally this was to be started from June 1st, but it had to be delayed because microwave links could not be established in time between Delhi and all the TV kendras. The fare was to consist of news in Hindi and English, and programmes reflecting music, dance and other aspects of life, literature and culture of all regions.

Although some of Doordarshan programmes like `A gift of Love` have won prizes abroad, and some other programmes have been notable successes, the general feeling among viewers and other in a position to judge is that by and large the general output has lacked the stamp of quality and imaginative creativity.

One of the recent developments was the Madras Tv centre decided in view of persistent demand from its viewers, to shift the weekly Tamil feature film from Saturdays to Sundays, and the usual Hindi films to Saturdays instead of Sundays.

Now there are seven full fledged centres at Delhi, Mumbai, Jalandar, Srinagar, Kolkata, Madras and Lucknow; eight transmitting centres at Raipur, Muzaffarpur, Jaipur, Sambalpur,Gulbarga, Ahmedabad, Hydrabad and Nagpur, and relay centres at Kanpur, Mussoorie, Pune,Amritsar, Bangalore, Panaji, Allahbad,Gwalior and Asansol. There are also three Upgraha Doordarshan Kendras (Satellite programme production centres) at Delhi, Cuttack and Hyderabad and 20 low-power trasmitters in various states to provide coverage to national and other programmes throught relays. Doordarshan has 45 transmittors at work, and the programmes reach about 28% of the populations.

In 1984, Doordarshan introduced a second channel for the big cities and permitted cable operators to transmit locally made programmes to fill the gaps in the schedule when Doordarshan was not on air. These cable operators grew from a few 100`s in the eighties to more than 20,000 in the nineties. They came into their own from 1991 when foreign sattelliet transmission became available all over India, especially with the launch of Zee tv in 1992. Privately owned, its formats were livelier than the ponderous programming of the Doordarshan. Because Doordarshan had begun to accept and depend on advertising from the mid 1980`s, it had to try to respond to the popularity of Zee TV and other satellite broadcasters.

Presently, Doordarshan operates 19 channels - two All India channels, 11 Regional Languages Satellite Channels (RLSC), four State Networks (SN), an International channel and a Sports Channel. Regular satellite transmissions began in 1982 (the same year color transmission began). Now more than 87 percent of population of the country can receive Doordarshan programmes through a network of nearly 1044 terrestrial transmitters. About 46 Doordarshan Studios are producing TV software. The Doordarshan televises through the Official and Associate Official languages, and its regional channels televise through the state dominant languages and dominant minority languages. It has ten regional language satellite channels, a three-tier service: the national, regional and local, and uses the language and idiom of the particular region.